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Jericho Road is a
Latter-day Saint Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's death in 1844, the movement split into several ...
boy band A boy band is loosely defined as a vocal group consisting of young male singers, usually in their teenage years or in their twenties at the time of formation. Generally, boy bands perform Love song, love songs marketed towards girls and young ...
that sings
religious music Religious music (also sacred music) is a type of music that is performed or composed for religious use or through religious influence. It may overlap with ritual music, which is music, sacred or not, performed or composed for or as ritual. Relig ...
. The band's members are Abe Mills (from St. Louis, Missouri), Dave Kimball (Sandy, Utah), Justin Smith (Parma, Idaho), and Bret Bryce (Knoxville, Tennessee).


Biography

The band members met at
Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...
while performing in the group The
Young Ambassadors __NOTOC__ The Young Ambassadors are a song and dance performing group from Brigham Young University (BYU). Consisting of 20 performers, 10 male and 10 female, they were founded by Janie Thompson in 1969. Since their first international performance ...
, and developed close friendships performing together. After expressing strong desires to use their performing talents in a way that would be both entertaining and inspiring, they decided to form a new group, Jericho Road. When Abe Mills, Bret Bryce, Dave Kimball, and Justin Smith stepped onto the music scene as Jericho Road in August 2001, they were met with immediate success. Their self-titled debut release broke all sales records for their label Shadow Mountain, selling over 10,000 copies in its first week. Nearly 150,000 copies later, the band continues to share their music and conviction with fans of all faiths throughout the world. Jericho Road has been fortunate to team up with many award-winning songwriters and musicians. These include Christian artists Steve Siler, Lowell Alexander, and
Scott Krippayne Scott Krippayne (born July 23, 1970) is an American singer and songwriter. Krippayne is better known for his contributions towards other artists, as over 150 of his songs have been recorded by others including Point of Grace, John Tesh, Avalon (Am ...
.


Background of performers

Abdullah R. "Abe" Mills was born and raised in
St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...
. His family converted to
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...
when he was about six. Mills served his mission in the Texas Houston Mission. He met his wife Rachel, who grew up in
Branson, Missouri Branson is a city in the U.S. state of Missouri. Most of the city is situated in Taney County, with a small portion in the west extending into Stone County. Branson is in the Ozark Mountains. The community was named after Reuben Branson, postma ...
at BYU. In addition to being part of Young Ambassadors Mills was a walk-on member of the BYU Cougars football team. Mills majored in broadcast journalism. He was also a host on the LDS Church produced show "Center Street". The Mills later lived in Kalamazoo with their five children. At a later date Mills moved to Florida. In about 2017 he shifted to fulltime creating a YouTube with his family entitled "Sunshine Mafia"."All In" LDS Living podcast interview with Mills
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Awards and fan base

In 2003, Jericho Road won a Listeners Choice Award for Album of the Year (True North) and Group Artist of the Year. They also received a 2003
Pearl Award :''This article deals with music's role in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints outside of the context of worship; for hymns, see The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints hymns or for the hymnal Hymns of The Church of Jesus Chr ...
for Performing Artist of the Year and Contemporary Recording of the Year (''A New Day'' from the album "True North"). Jericho Road's fan base and recognition have steadily grown, with their albums sales approaching 150,000 CDs and millions of dollars in sales. Having completed two tours throughout the West coast and Canada in 2002 and 2003, the band also performed in Washington D.C., Kansas, Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama. Radio stations across the country (both contemporary and Christian) have helped them gain national attention. "Finding My Way Back to You", the hit single from their second album, was on the Top 5 most-requested list at KXEN in St. Louis.


International performances

In the fall of 2003 the group was asked to sing the National Anthem at the 100th anniversary of the first World Series at Dodgertown Sports & Conference Center in Vero Beach, Florida. The Diamond Dreams Fantasy Baseball organization sponsored their trip and even let them play in the games. From 2005-2007 the group has gained more international attention and exposure, completing two tours to the United Kingdom and Ireland, a sold-out week-long tour to Chile last July, and recent performances in Florida, Washington, Oregon, and California. Jericho Road also toured to seven cities in Japan from February 15–25, 2007, touring to Okinawa, Fukuoka, Hiroshima, Osaka, Nagoya, Tokyo, and Sendai.


Discography

* ''Jericho Road'' - released November 20, 2001 * ''True North'' - released October 1, 2002 * ''What Matters Most'' - released October 15, 2002 * ''Deeper Still'' EP - released October 7, 2003 * ''There Is More'' - released September 6, 2005 * ''Best of Jericho Road'' - released October 1, 2006 * ''Day of Rest'' - released September 6, 2010


References


External links

*
AllMusic profile
{{Authority control American boy bands Latter Day Saint musical groups Brigham Young University alumni Musical groups established in 2001 2001 establishments in Utah